Devotion, desire and dancing queens

For anyone who understands how it feels to be a fan of ABBA

The Way Old Friends Do

A new comedy by Ian Hallard

Directed by Mark Gatiss

York Theatre Royal, 6-10 June

Actor, writer and producer of Doctor Who and Sherlock Mark Gatiss directs The Way Old Friends Do, a new comedy by Ian Hallard about devotion, desire and dancing queens.

In 1988, two school friends tentatively come out to one another: one as gay, the other – more shockingly – as an ABBA fan. Nearly thirty years later, a chance meeting sets them on a brand-new path and they decide to form the world’s first ABBA tribute band – in drag!

But can their friendship survive the tribulations of a life on the road which includes platform boots, fake beards and a distractingly attractive stranger?

In the cast are Ian Hallard, Donna Berlin (Doctors) James Bradshaw (Endeavour), Sara Crowe (Olivier Award winner for Private Lives), Andrew Horton (Jupiter’s Legacy) and Rose Shalloo (Call The Midwife). The play also features the voices of two of the UK’s best-loved performers, Miriam Margolyes and Paul O’Grady.